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EGO

Photo by: Tim Bindner

I am addicted to my thoughts. I need to realize I am not just my mind. I am conditioned to think my mind is who I am and that my past defines what I will be forever.

Thoughts about myself are my EGO, and my EGO does whatever it needs to do to protect me.

My mind is at risk if my thoughts are challenged or proven wrong.  When challenged or proven wrong, my identity is broken and I become angry or defensive.

By understanding I am not my thoughts, I can detach myself from the limits of my EGO. My true self incorporates my mind, but my mind is not my sole existence.

I am learning to separate myself from my thoughts after only listening to them.  I must observe my thoughts, don’t judge them (a thinking act), acknowledge them, and let them pass.

“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace–arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.”–Eckhart Tolle.

I am learning to be conscious of the now.  Living in the moment.  Experience what is happening around me and not judging what is happening.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.” – Eckhart Tolle.

When negativity enters my mind, I must ask myself am I being present or are experiences or thoughts of a future I cannot control guiding me?  Am I being present?

This is a simple concept, but difficult to do.  Try to take a moment and not think.  Easy, right?  No.  But that common practice will help me get my body and mind to the existence of living in the moment and now in my head.

As a photographer, I have already mastered the ability to observe what is around me.  It is the analysis of what I see where I struggle.  That is the task I plan to work on.  If successful I hope to achieve inner peace.

Until next time,

Tim (a. k. a. Kilmer)

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